Tears rolled down Kalai’s cheeks, stopped by Tauran’s hand, but Kalai wasn’t ashamed. He reached out, fitting himself against Tauran’s chest, relishing in Tauran’s arms around him. Honesty lifted an incredible weight from his heart. “I think I’m falling now,” he whispered.
“I’m here.” Tauran’s voice was half-obscured by the sound of dragons cooing. Kalai felt more than he saw a large wing fold around their bodies. “You and me, we’ll figure this out together.”
A weight shifted against Kalai’s side. When he raised his head from the crook of Tauran’s neck, he saw that it was Leyra, looking up at him with her big golden eyes. The wing wrapped around them was Arrow’s, and Kalai didn’t think he’d ever felt so safe and warm before in his life. Sniffling, he pulled Tauran into a kiss. It was uncoordinated and a little salty from his tears, but he didn’t care. His heart was full.
CHAPTER 38
They continued their journey, and every morning and every night, Tauran handed Kalai his pills, made him a cup of tea from the herbs Kalai pointed out around them, and massaged the muscles in his neck to ease his headache. When Kalai felt well enough, he flew with Arrow. More and more often, Leyra would join them. The only thing missing was Tauran. Kalai could imagine how incredible it would be to fly together. He offered Tauran a ride on Arrow, but once again, Tauran declined, although Kalai could have sworn the rejection came with some hesitation.
Leyra was slower and less agile than Arrow, but already, her stamina in the air matched his. Unlike Arrow, she was built for soaring, her broad wings keeping her in the air with less effort. Their differences were fascinating, and Kalai would often take his time writing notes in the margins of the few books he’d brought with him from the archive in Valreus.
Kalai didn’t miss how bad Tauran’s leg had gotten since their encounter with the bog beasts. At night, when they settled down to sleep, Kalai dragged Tauran’s leg into his lap and massaged the tender muscles, an exchange of care they hadn’t discussed, but which soon became a ritual.
On the twenty-first day since leaving Andreus and Hali in the Terror Marshes, the Kel Visal mountains rose out of the morning fog.
Tauran halted his gelding, and beside him, Kalai did the same. They were still a distance away, the mountains barely visible, like ghost giants. But already, Tauran could tell they were larger than any mountain in Valreus, maybe even rivaling the Sky Peaks in Cadell which he’d only ever seen from far away, on dragonback. It was suddenly clear why the Sharoani had named the mountains the Imperial Rise.
And their arrival was not a day too soon.
Tauran glanced at Kalai, who looked considerably less impressed by the view. Of course, he’d lived his entire life at the foot of those mountains. But his expression wasn’t what caught Tauran’s eye. It was the tension in his shoulders, in his jaw, and the dark circles under his eyes. Kalai didn’t complain, but the battle he was fighting was clear to see. Tauran folded a hand over his pocket where the vial of pills lay. There were only three left, enough for three days with every pill cut in half, like they’d been doing the past few days. Tauran had hoped so desperately that Kalai would be doing better by now. That the lowered dose would make stopping easier on him, if not eliminate withdrawals all together. But they’d run out of pills faster than Tauran could decrease the dosage all the way. Kalai looked so fragile already, and the thought of the days to come filled Tauran’s stomach with ice. They had to get to Kel Visal. Right now, the wild dragons weren’t Tauran’s main concern. In Kel Visal, Kalai could get a proper bed and better food. There would be physicians who could make the withdrawals easier to bear. Whatever it took and whatever Tauran had to pay, he’d do it.
“I wish I could have been a better guide,” Kalai said, as they rode side by side around the Ikuna-Rani, one of Sharoani’s two largest lakes. “There’s so many incredible sites I want to tell you about. The dragons have such significance everywhere in these parts.”
“You’ve been a little distracted.” Tauran looked up when Arrow and Leyra dove over the lake, Arrow in front with Leyra right behind. “We’ll be in